Life's Greatest Problem
Cast & Crew
J. Stuart Blackton
Mitchell Lewis
Ruby De Remer
Gus Alexander
Ida Darling
Helen Ferguson
Film Details
Synopsis
While the workers in John Craig's shipyard build vessels to support the cause of the United States in World War I, Craig's son Dick spends his mornings in bed and his money on chorus girls. In another part of town, Big Steve Reardon, a bum, boasts to his friend, Little Lefty, that he has never worked a day in his life and is "happy as hell." When General Enoch Crowder issues an order that every able American must either "work or fight," Dick marries his father's stenographer, Alice Webster, in the hope of obtaining an exemption, but he, as well as Steve and Lefty, eventually find themselves laboring in the shipyards. Steve prevents a neglected and disconsolate Alice from committing suicide, and later, when the Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.) threaten to blow up the shipyard, he and Lefty save the day. Ultimately, the two hoboes and the wealthy idler are spiritually regenerated through their work for the war effort.
Director
J. Stuart Blackton
Cast
Mitchell Lewis
Ruby De Remer
Gus Alexander
Ida Darling
Helen Ferguson
John P. Wade
Eugene Strong
John Goldsworthy
John W. Martin
Sidney D'albrook
Bernard Randall
Aubrey Beattie
Crew
Film Details
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The credit for George Brautigan May be erroneous. Otto Brautigam was a photographer for J. Stuart Blackton. The film premiered under the title Safe for Democracy, in New York on November 3, 1918 and was reviewed at the time under that title. In November 1918, First National Exhibitors' Circuit contracted to distribute the film in the future, although no information has been located to determine if they in fact did distribute it before Independent Sales Corp. handled it under the new title, Life's Greatest Problem.
